Archive | Sink

      In the memoir, Sink, Joey’s experiences are frequently filtered through metaverse experiences through fantasy worlds—anime, video games, and other imagined landscapes. These moments of escapism go beyond distractions; they function as a parallel framework through which Joey interprets and processes his reality. The memoir’s use of fantasy illustrates his coping mechanisms and […]

In his memoir, Sink, Joseph Earl Thomas narrates his life in the third person; a different technique than what we have read previously. As the novel progresses, it creates an effect of separation between the author and the character, fostering a sense of distance for Thomas’ older/reflective self from his childhood self.  The distinction between […]

The memoir Sink by Joseph Earl Thomas encompasses an inward-looking exploration of survival and self-development through the form of unique narrative perspective. Throughout most of his story, Thomas uses third person narration, which interestingly places the reader into the perspective of the people being described rather than the immediate narrator. This striking choice of narration […]

Joseph Earl Thomas’s memoir, Sink, follows his childhood and adolescence in Frankford, a neighborhood in Philadelphia. Thomas is surrounded by hostility, violence, and many other things a child should not be so familiar with. Growing up in a house with a drug-addict, flighty mother and a dubious father figure leaves Thomas disillusioned with the world […]

Before this work, the works we read were largely “foreign” — even Hsu’s memoir still dealt with Asian heritage. Thomas’ memoir, however, uniquely breaks from this, being a Black, American boy. He employs a variety of highly American, commercial forms, such as videogames and aime in order to convey his subjectivity. It is through these […]

Joseph Earl Thomas’s memoir Sink explores neglect, struggle, and survival. Through the eyes of young Joey, the reader experiences a world marked by instability, familial dysfunction, and a constant battle for safety. In the absence of warmth and security, Joey turns to fantasy—anime, video games, and imagined realities—as a way to process his experiences and […]